King’s U14 Netballers are England National Finalists

The U14 netball squad travelled across the country to Oundle School to compete to become England National Finalists.

Anticipation for the following day’s national competition was high, with the U16 and U19 competitions taking place as we travelled. The 10 squad players and four members of staff enjoyed a meal at Bella Italia and then a team meeting before an early night to prepare for the long day ahead.

The National Schools Competition is a tough competition, with over 1,500 schools taking part. Having three King’s Worcester teams at the Regionals and then three teams in the semi-finals shows the huge depth of talent that is shown in each age group. King’s Worcester has reached the National Finals on six occasions in the last seven years, highlighting the enthusiasm and effort of both the athletes and the staff.

This year the Nationals were run across two indoor and two outdoor courts. The weather was kind to us, with the sun shining for the majority of the day, making the transition from indoor to outdoor matches a smoother process. Each group consisted of nine regional finalists from across the country, all played in a round-robin group stage of short and punchy seven-minute-each-way matches.

Our first opponents were a strong and polished side from Putney, last year’s tournament winners. The atmosphere in the double sports hall, which was overlooked by a large balcony packed with spectators, was electric and at times a little overwhelming. Losing the first game 4-14, the girls regrouped and revisited the processes that work well for them as a team before moving to the outdoor courts. Here, in a more familiar environment, the King’s team beat Repton 8-5. Next up was Withington, another very strong side, beating us 18-5 and going on to become National Finalists against Putney. Putting two heavy defeats behind them, the girls moved back to the indoor courts and gave a strong performance against RGS Newcastle to win 12-3, denying Newcastle their point for scoring half our score.

Back on the outdoor courts, we came up against Taunton International, who we have previously played against in a pre-season triangular fixture; holding their energy from the previous games, the girls came away with their third win of the group stage, 12-8, with Taunton gaining the bonus half-score point. Later, on the indoor courts, the team suffered a narrow defeat in a high scoring and fast paced match against Hurstpierpoint, managing to gain a vital point for scoring over half their score. The scores in the groups at this stage showed Putney and Withington as clear leaders and heading through to the National Semi-finals.

All was still to play for to gain a place in the Cup Semi-final, with the remaining seven teams having won and lost a similar number of games in the hotly contested group matches. To ensure a place, the girls needed to win their remaining two games. In a nail-biting, tough match against Bradford Grammar School, the final result was a 10-10 draw, meaning the final group game against St Cleve’s was crucial, needing to win to be certain of a place in the semi-final. This match was played on Court 1, with a huge crowd watching. The game was a frenetic, end-to-end contest, with both sets of shooters putting up a multitude of shots and 26 goals scored in the 14-minute match, resulting in a 13-13 draw; there followed a nail-biting wait for the loudspeaker to announce which teams from each group had qualified for the Cup Semi-finals. King’s were through, and their next opponents were a familiar team from the West-Midlands region, Bromsgrove. Down at half time, the girls dug deep and fought till the final whistle, winning 12-11 and sending King’s into the Final against St Swithun’s. The Cup Final was to be the highest scoring game of our tournament, with 29 goals scored and St Swithun’s taking the victory.

“I’m incredibly proud of the whole squad’s effort, with all 10 members of the squad contributing at every level of the competition and 18 games won: the girls won all three of their District round matches, five County matches and six matches at the Regionals, along with four wins and two draws against the top netball schools in the country at the Nationals. To finish second in the Cup Competition and sixth overall in the whole country is an outstanding achievement and the girls really grew into the competition, adapting their play to suit the short and punchy 14-minute matches.”